10 bloodsucking films you can sink your teeth into

Saturday

Inspired by “Twilight: Eclipse” – the third entry in the “Twilight” series, which opens Wednesday – we take a look at vampire films through the years.

Inspired by “Twilight: Eclipse” – the third entry in the “Twilight” series, which opens Wednesday – we take a look at vampire films through the years.

Vampire films have been with us since before there were talkies. Audiences have always been attracted to tales about the fabled creatures who are doomed to a living death, never able to see the sun, cursed with a need for human (sometimes animal) blood.

But vampire traits seem to change with each film. Some have superhuman strength, some can’t stand the sight of a cross, others can turn into bats. The two constants are that they strike fear into human hearts, and that they can be vanquished by having a wooden stake driven through their own.

There’s no doubt that the “Twilight” series is the biggest success in the world of vampire films. But longtime vampire-flick fans have found them to be too sanitized, too reliant on confused young love and jealousy rather than dealing with vampire lore.

But there are plenty of other great films in the genre’s long history. Here are some suggestions for a Top 10 on your Netflix vampire queue. They’re in chronological order.

“Nosferatu” (1922) – The granddaddy of them all: a mid-career film from German director F.W. Murnau, starring bony, creepy, rodent-like actor Max Schreck as Count Orlock. Based on Bram Stoker’s novel “Dracula,” the silent film has its horrific villain looking to purchase some real estate and being accused of starting a plague. Very atmospheric and moody.

“Dracula” (1931) – The movie that made Bela Lugosi a star, and then typecast him for life. Based on the play that was based on the Stoker novel, the count travels to London where he, too, looks for real estate, but finds lots of beautiful necks from which to drink, focusing finally on young Mina. Lugosi’s Romanian accent is perfect for the part. Dwight Frye is brilliant as the hapless Renfield. Alice Cooper sang about him in “Ballad of Dwight Fry.”

“Horror of Dracula” (1958) – England’s Hammer Studios gave us lots of great monster movies in the 1950s and ’60s. This one introduced Christopher Lee as Dracula and Peter Cushing as Van Helsing, who hunted him down. The film was produced in gorgeous and garish color, and introduced a simmering sexuality to the vampire. It also provided one of the coolest endings, involving the imaginative use of a pair of large candlestick holders.

“Salem’s Lot” (1979) – Made for TV, based on the scary Stephen King novel, and directed by horror veteran Tobe Hooper, this went for and attained an incredible amount of shock value in the story of a small town being terrorized by the dapper but mysterious new fellow (James Mason) who just moved in. The scene of the vampire violently killing a young boy’s parents in a kitchen still resonates. The vision of a vampire lad slowly floating outside someone’s window at night remains unnerving.

“Near Dark” (1987) – This early film from Kathryn Bigelow (“The Hurt Locker”) gave us a whole new take on vampire films by giving it the flair and style of both an old Western and a gang story. An evil, marauding bunch of them roam through Arizona, killing new victims, drinking their fill, then looking for more. There’s a streak of very black humor, and great performances from Lance Henriksen and Bill Paxton as two of the more ferocious vampires ever seen in film.

“From Dusk Till Dawn” (1996) – Quentin Tarantino wrote and Robert Rodriguez directed what’s actually two movies in one. It starts off as a robber-kidnapper-killer thriller, then suddenly goes the horror route when a group of people in the middle of nowhere are attacked by a brood of vicious vampires. It’s a quirky combination of dark comedy and unrelenting, squirm-inducing violence. It features George Clooney’s first breakout role after “ER.”

“Shadow of the Vampire” (2000) – Willem Dafoe is mesmerizing as Max Schreck, the actor who starred in “Nosferatu,” in this extremely fictionalized story of how that film was made. John Malkovich plays F.W. Murnau, the director who was going after perfection. It’s about the relationship between Schreck and Murnau, the series of mysterious accidents and deaths that occurred during production, and the suspicions that Schreck was so good in the part because he was actually a vampire.

“Night Watch” (2004) – The first in an intended trilogy (the second, “Day Watch,” has been made, but not the third) of Russian movies about a long line of vampires and vampire hunters who manage to co-exist in contemporary Moscow. Between raucous MTV-style editing and knockout visual effects, there’s a story about a young boy who’s being lured into becoming a “victim” as well as various ways of obtaining blood: via bared fangs or, more civilly, by drinking it from cups. There are many quiet passages, and lots of gotcha moments.

“Let the Right One In” (2008) – The Swedish winner of the Boston Society of Film Critics Foreign Language Film award, this is both fascinating and unsettling because its heroes and villains are all kids. Young Oskar, miserable because he’s constantly bullied, finds companionship in young Eli, the little girl who moves in nearby, and becomes his friend and protector. Little does he know, she’s a vampire, and she considers almost everyone but Oskar to be a potential victim. An American version titled “Let Me In” will be released this fall, with Chloe Moretz (“Kick-Ass”) in the lead.

“Daybreakers” (2009) – The film that proves it’s OK to do some genre-bending. A decade from now, a disease started by a rabid bat has turned most of the world’s population into vampires, while most of the remaining humans have been captured and set up on corporate farms where their blood is drained for consumption. That supply is running out, so vampire hematologist Ethan Hawke is trying to find a cure that will bring the undead alive. But for now, almost everyone smokes because, what the heck, everyone’s immortal.

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